Sky Cowboy (15 page)

Holy shit.  Th
is psychopath is Oscar’s mother!

What the fuck was Jeremy thinking getting involved with a junkie?

Jesus Christ!

“You’re Oscar’s birth mother
.” I whisper my statement.

“Birth mother,” she spits, “I’m his only fuckin’ mother.  I’m the only mother he’s ever
gonna have.”

“He doesn’t even know you,” I rage at her.  How
dare
she come in here waving a gun around, high as a kite, preaching at me that she is his mother?
 
“
I’m
the one who tucks him into bed at night. 
I’m
the one who reads his bedtime story and kisses him goodnight. 
I’m
the one who packs his school lunch and washes his clothes, and
I’m
the one he calls
mummy
.”

“Not for long,” her whispered voice is deadly.  The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as she looks at me with pure hatred.

She raises the gun and steadies one arm with the other.

“Please, don’t do this.  Please think of how much this will hurt
Os-.”

She fires the shot before I can finish my sentence.  A searing pain rips through my body and my hand immediately comes up to clutch my chest.  Pulling my hand away, I see it covered in blood.  The pain is more than I can handle.  And the blood. 
Oh, god, the blood.

I feel myself falling at the same time I hear another shot go off.  I don’t know if it hit
s me, because everything is black.

I want to open my eyes, but they feel too heavy and I don’t have the strength to do it.
  I feel my body start to shut down and blackness envelopes me.

My lips feel so dry.  I want to lick them but I haven’t got the energy.
  Once again, my mind fades to black.

M
y eyes flutter open a crack but they immediately snap close as my head begins to pound.  Fuck, my head hurts so badly.  I try to groan but I can’t.  My throat feels so dry. 

“Please, doc, tell me she’s going to be okay.  She’s been out for four days now.  Is she going to wake up soon?”

Jeremy?  Jeremy’s here.  I can hear him talking quietly somewhere in the room.  He called someone ‘doc’.  Doctor?  Maybe I’m in the hospital…Why would I be in the hospital?  My head starts to pound again and I relax into sleep.

I open my eyes and groan.  Except for a dull light, the room is dark. 
Where am I?
I flex my fingers and a dull ache resonates in my shoulder and the side of my chest.  I look down and see white bandages covering the area where I can feel the pain.  A strange sound escapes my throat as memories fill my mind. 

That women…Oscar’s birth mother…She shot me.

Is Oscar okay?

Oh god, did she go and find him and Jeremy and hurt them?

My heart starts to thud hard and fast in my chest and a monitor starts beeping beside me. 

I need to go and find them,

I need to warn Jeremy.

“Ava
?  Hey, hey, honey, it’s okay.  You’re okay.  Shh, baby, don’t stress.  Just calm down.”  Jeremy voice is soothing and I feel myself begin to relax.  “Nurse, she’s awake,” he calls out and then he’s back, stroking my hair and speaking calming words.

“Jeremy,”
I croak.  I try to swallow some saliva to moisten my throat but my mouth is dry.  “The girl, she’s-,”

“It’s okay, honey,
it’s okay.  We’re all safe.  You’re safe.”

“Oscar?” I whisper.

“He’s fine, honey.  We’re all okay.”

“Ah, good to see you awake, Miss Crawley.  How are you feeling?”  The nurse bustles in, shining a light in my eyes and checking me over while asking me a bunch of questions.

“I’m fine just a dull ache in my shoulder and my throat is really dry,” I rasp.

“Okay, here you go,” she hands me a plastic cup with a straw, “Just remember to sip it.  The doctor will be by in about fifteen minutes to see you.” 

“God, honey, I’m so glad you’re okay.  I thought I’d lost you.  I’ve never been so scared in my fuckin’ life.”

“Where is that woman?  Jeremy, she said she was Oscar’s mother.  She was
off her head
.  High as a kite.  She said she’d been watching me for a while and she heard him call me mummy,” I explain.

“The police will be here shortly, honey.  Just tell them everything you know.  They’ll handle it,” he reassures me.

“So when you say, they’ll handle it, you mean she hasn’t been caught yet, don’t you.”  It’s a statement, not a question, because I already know the answer.

“
You’re safe.  Oscar’s safe.  I’m safe.  That’s all that matters.  Just tell the cops everything you remember and then let them do their job, okay.”

“Yes,” I whisper.

“So good to see your eyes, Ava,” he rumbles in a low whisper.  He leans in and his lips touch mine, gently.  Slowly and tenderly, his lips move over mine as he worships my mouth with his.

He pulls back when someone clears their voice behind him.

“Sorry to interrupt, Mr. Henley, but if it’s okay, we’d like to have a chat with Miss. Crawley.”  A uniformed officer explains.

“No worries, mate.  Come in.”  Jeremy sits back down in his seat and grips my hand.  The two officers stand at the base of my bed and begin to ask questions.  I explain every detail as much as I can, and they seem grateful for the information.

After about thirty minutes, they leave and unfortunately Jeremy leaves not long after.  It’s mid-morning and he has a few things to check on at the farm.   He promises to be back in the afternoon with Oscar.

“Hey,” Edie whispers as she walks into my room pushing a pram.  Jules is behind her, “Hi, girl,” she whispers as well.

“Hey, guys.”

“How are you feeling?  What did the doctor say?” Edie asks on another whisper.

“It’s okay, you don’t have to whisper,” I laugh, “I’m feeling alright, considering.  The doctor was supposed to visit me earlier but I haven’t seen him yet.”

“Speak of the devil,” Jules mutters when the doctor walks in.
  “We’ll wait outside.” 

“Good to see you awake, Ava.  Sorry I’m running late, we had an emergency.  So how are the wounds feeling?”

“Not too bad I guess.  It’s just a dull ache.  If I move my arm quickly, I get a sharp pain, but other than that I feel fine.”

“That’s good.  Now, I’m not sure what your partner or the nurse told you earlier, but you were brought in here with two gunshots wounds.  One bullet hit the top of your arm, where your arm meets your shoulder.  The second wound was just below your collarbone.  You lost a lot of blood and needed a blood transfusion.  Thankfully both bullets missed any vital organs but they were what we call
through and through
wounds.  This means that you will have scars where the bullets entered and exited.  We’ve stitched all four wounds as cleanly as we could, which means the scarring should be minimal.  The bullet that entered near your shoulder, grazed the bone, but I don’t anticipate you will experience any problems with it.  However, I do recommend a few sessions of physical therapy and I’ll make sure to write you a referral before you’re discharged.   You were very lucky, Miss Crawley.  Do you have any questions at this point in time?”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so.”  I can barely process the information he’s just given me.

“I’ll leave you to it then.  I’ll be back to check on you in the morning.  If all goes well, I expect you will be free to go home in a couple of days.  We need to make sure you don’t contract an infection before then, though.”

“Okay.  Thank you
, Doctor.”  He nods his head and then leaves.  Jules, Ava and Olive walk back in the room and I smile. 
Thank god for good friends.

“What did he say?” Jules asks as soon as the door shuts behind her.

I fill them in.  “I should be free to go home in a couple of days. No permanent damage was sustained from the bullets and with a couple of physical sessions, I should be right as rain.”

“Shit, girl.  You ought to buy yourself a lottery ticket,” Jules gasps.

“Yeah,” I agree on a smile.  “So, how long was I out?  I forgot to ask Jeremy earlier.”

“Five days.” Edie answers.

“Five days?” I breathe.

“Yep,” Jules confirms.

“Well, let’s talk weddings then, I’ve got a lot to catch up on by the sounds of it.”  I don’t really care what we talk about, so long as it keeps my mind off where that woman is, and what she has done.

“I called yesterday and ordered the decorations so that’s all taken care of.  I also ordered
the cake for Jackson and me from the bakery here in Darwin.  I told them you would also be ordering one but I didn’t want to give any details because I knew you’d have your own idea of what you wanted for you and Jeremy.  I rang the caterer and that’s all been finalized.  The celebrant is booked….”

“
Shh, mummy’s sleeping,” I hear Jeremy whisper.

I turn my head and open my eyes.  “Hey, buddy,” I smile to Oscar.  He walks cautiously towards me.  When he reaches me, he gently strokes my hand with his.

“Is mummy okay?”  His bottom lip trembles as he asks the question.

“Yes, sweetheart.  Mummy is okay.  I’m more than okay now that you’re here.  I’ve missed you
.”

“Oscar missed you too.  Oscar has been at Ma’s.  Ma lets Oscar watch
Thomas
all day.”  He races off to play in the corner of the room with one of his toy trains.

“Hey baby,” I smile and pucker my lips.

“Hey.” Jeremy leans down and touches his lips to mine.

“Where did Edie
and Jules go?  They were just here.”

“Ho
ney, they left.  Edie said you fell asleep when she was talking to you about wedding shit.”

“Oh,” I bite my lip, “How embarrassing.”

“Nah, it’s alright.  They understand.”  He gives me a lop-sided grin and lifts my hand to his mouth so he can kiss my palm.